Category Archives: Featured Items

A good DAC in your system can be a great investment, perfect for getting top quality sound from your PC, MAC, streaming device, or just eeking a bit more from your CD player. But which to choose, stick with a well known brand (Arcam, Cambridge Audio, Musical Fidelity, Audiolab etc) or maybe try one of the unknowns from the far east that is flooding ebay? If you choose the latter option, it can be a minefield ascertaining which are well designed and implemented bargains, and which are just cobbled together rubbish.

The Valab DAC’s have been on the market for around 5 years odd now and the general consensus is they’re are indeed a hot bargain and on par with branded DAC’s considerable higher in price. This Dual WM874 is one of their latest models, featuring a full dual-mono balanced design, with support for 24bit, 192kHz streams. Hook it up via USB, SPDIF or AES/EBU and than feed the output to your amp via balanced XLR or normal single ended RCA’s. If you’re in the market for a DAC, definitely stick this on your shortlist.

Royd Audio were famous for their Minstrel speakers, a fun, musical and cheap little miniature floor standing speaker. However the Revelation range were Royd’s swan song. The culmination of years of experience and fine tuning of a winning formula. Here we have the RR1, the Minstrel’s beaters from the Revelation range. Extremely rare, very good and beautifully hand made in Shropshire. A final piece of craftsmanship from Joe Akroyd before going into retirement.

This monster AV receiver was released by Rotel in 2007 and is one hell of a jammed packed box of tricks. You’ve got full 7.1 surround support, 4 HDMI inputs (1 output), video upscaler, 4 zone multi-room options, loads of digital and analogue inputs and 75W of output per channel! Rotel are a proven name, with a reputation for quality kit, a clear step up from your cheaper Onkyo’s and Sherwood’s receivers. Arcam gear may have the edge on sound quality and musical presentation, but the Rotel’s tend to trump on spec.

Original sold for £1500/$2000, but going here for a steal. AV gear never holds price well, bad for those buying new, but great for those buying second hand.

Here we have another rare pair of speakers for you. These are the Kef Reference 105 speakers, first produced in 1970 and continued to be built until 1987. They are a no holds barred high end design, not just the best speakers Kef had produced, but the a landmark in speaker design across the industry. Highly regarded for tonal accuracy and stereo precision, their 3 way design places each driver in a separate cabinet for optimal frequency response. With those huge 12″ bass drivers these 105’s reach down to 38Hz with ease – many average subwoofers on the market today can’t even do this!

Quick! quick! Just stumbled across this pair of Royd Ela Mk1 transmission line speakers. Sharing the same design and drivers/tweeters as the Royd Apex. They were a joint venture between Joe Akroyd at Royd Audio and Rega. The biggest differences being the crossover and cosmetics of the cabinets.

This auction has a poor title, so probably few people would have seen it. As such these are likely to go for a song. Get in there quick!